Not Ready
by Sheraven
Summary: My brothers...I...don't want to go. Forgive me. Warning: Mature themes of violence and death.


Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or any of its affiliates.

_Not Ready_

Too many. It was too many for me to defeat. For some reason, the Foot under Karai had decided that exact moment to attack us. Combining those amateur ninjas with the Purple Dragons we were already fighting tipped the balance. Eight-to-one I could handle, but not twenty-to-one. The washed over me and my brothers like a dark wave. Before I knew what was happening, each of my twin katanas were engaging two enemies each.

I saw Raph leap recklessly into a clot of gangsters, grinning maniacally with sais drawn. Donnie was the most effective of the four of us right now, because of the reach of his expertly-wielded bo staff. Mikey was doing the smart thing with the sudden onset of so many new opponents; he was dodging, leaping, and running, moving in briefly to strike one human down at a time before darting out of reach again. Through the flashing steel of my blades, I noticed that more of them were coming toward me.

I felt a small bit of relief because that meant the ninjas and gang members were moving away from my brothers. I also felt a bit of panic, however, because I was about to be overwhelmed, "Guys!" I called, "A little help here!" I was getting tired, moving so fast, and beginning to lose track of so many around me. Through my swords, I could feel whenever I dropped an opponent, because they would be momentarily heavier as the metal cut through flesh or bone.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Donnie pass over my head and land right behind me, our shells rubbing together lightly. The load was instantly lightened, as I did not have to watch my back anymore, but our enemies were doing something I had never seen before. I heard a muffled, "Go after the blue one, he's their leader," and saw a marked change in the humans. All of them came at me at once. Donnie grunted behind me and I knew that he had heard it too.

It happened too fast to react. Blades from all sides fell at once, and I tried my best to keep them off. I must have blocked at least ten or twelve, but one bit into my shoulder, another dug into my leg, distracting me. There was a flash of streetlight off steel and then I was watching the tip of a sword enter my chest. In a sudden moment of shock, I realized Donnie had been knocked off balance forward by the force of the sword as it was stopped by the inside of my shell. The world slowed down as my ninja training made me turn in an attempt to pull the blade from my attacker's hands.

The deadly steel was caught between two plates of my plastron, and the sword broke, sending tiny sparkles into the night air. I heard Mikey scream something, and realized I had stopped fighting. There was a terrible ruckus and I forced my suddenly heavy head up to see my three brothers fighting with strength and speed borne of rage. Absently, I felt the tips of my swords touch the concrete. "No," I whispered, unable to muster anything else. The Foot ninja who's weapon had been broken was dead before he hit the ground, and my brothers spread outward from there, felling anyone in their path.

My limbs were getting heavy, their strength somehow draining into the blade lodged in my chest. With a shock, I realized that my heart was struggling to beat around the metal, and every breath was getting almost too hard to draw. I felt both swords drop from my hands. Purple Dragons were fleeing into the alley way, aware they had just forfeited their lives. The Foot ninja had only a tiny bit more honor, some at least throwing their weapons at the three demons they had suddenly awakened. I wanted to watch, but I simply could not hold my body up anymore.

I dropped to my knees, and again looked down. A cascade of blood was beginning to seep from under the hard bone plates, shining as it ran down my front. My brothers needed me, I could not have failed them like this. Donnie was the most sound of them, but without me, he would never come out of his lab. Raph was way too impulsive to be allowed to go unwatched, and Mikey would get himself into so much trouble that even his charm could not get him out. I left them once while I was in the jungle, I won't do it again. I can't. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. A wave of dizziness washed over me, forcing me down from my knees.

As I fell onto my back, I did not hit cold concrete as I was expecting. Warm arms caught me, gentling the impact. Raphael's face was above mine, smeared with human blood. Donatello and Michelangelo joined him not a second later, and I saw the same thing in each of their eyes, desperation. I tried to look around to see if they were endangering themselves by turning their backs to the enemy, but Mikey just shook his head, mutely telling me there were none left. It saddened me to see an equal amount of blood on his innocent face as well.

Donnie wiped blood from his eyes and reached out to barely touch the broken blade protruding from my chest. A wave of white hot pain raced through my body that caused me to writhe in Raph's grasp. "Oh, Leo, I'm sorry, I…" Donnie was searching the area for something to help, but he knew that if he withdrew the sword, it would only cause pain, and take me from them sooner. I was grateful my intellectual brother was so learned, but Mikey didn't understand.

"Well!? Can't you get it out?" Our youngest brother was on the verge of panic, and didn't realize what was happening. "Donnie! Don't just sit there…help him! You're the smart one!"

I could see that Donnie was feeling the same as Mikey, useless. Raph joined Mikey in demanding he somehow fix the situation, as he always did. "Come on, man! You can't let him die!" Donnie looked in pleading at Raph, the oldest one left standing. He couldn't bear to say out loud that there was nothing he could do. I was losing blood too fast, and the sword was stuck in a deadly spot within my body.

Raph only looked back at Donnie, speaking softly, "Every one of those fuckers is gonna pay." My hot-headed brother snorted angrily and said to Mikey, "It doesn't matter now."

Mikey inched closer, looking from Raph to Donnie, hoping for a different answer. Donnie just shook his head once. A choked sob escaped the carefree gamer, and he took my hand in his. I expected that movement to hurt, but instead, I couldn't feel it at all. "Please Leo, d-don't go…" his words were cut short when another blast of pain radiated from my heart, which was losing its battle with the impeding object. It was so intense that I could not stop from groaning.

As if all my brothers felt the pain with me, they each cringed as I tried my best to lay still through the agony. Something wasn't working though, because I realized I was trembling. In all my years as a warrior, I had never felt such hurt that shivering was the only way to express it. With dread, I realized that I did not have much time left. I looked up at the eyes of my brothers, and immediately wished I hadn't. Mikey was crying full out, tears were falling from Donnie's eyes even though he was silent, and Raph just looked like an angry statue.

Damn it! I don't want to die yet! If I knew anything about my brothers, I knew that Raph was the most likely to bottle his grief up and just hold it inside until it killed him, or someone else. That plus Mikey…my thoughts were cut off as a strange calm settled over me. I suddenly found I had a voice, and was certain that I didn't have too much time left. I wanted to tell my brothers how much they had taught me, how much I loved them, how much I didn't want to go, and a million other things, but I said the only thing that I had the strength for instead. "I-I'm sorry."

Each of them made as if to comfort me, but all had noticed that my trembling had stilled. The dark blood flow from the blade had slowed considerably, and I was starting to get a little cold. I felt myself beginning to slip away, as if I was involuntarily being pulled from my body. Which no longer hurt, a final sign. A small bolt of fear passed through me, which I could tell by my brothers' reactions was reflected in my eyes. "Don't be sorry," Donnie said, bowing his head because he was unable to continue.

"Yeah," Mikey said, without any of his usual jovial attitude, "just don't go yet." He paused, dropping to a whisper, "Please don't go Leo." My defeated heart broke at the pleading tone in his voice, and that I could not grant his request, no matter how much I tried. I wanted to respond, but a cold shiver passed through me, sapping away my strength.

In a sudden, uncharacteristic outburst of anger, Donnie gripped my shoulders and looked me hard in the eyes. "You can't leave us, Leo, we need you. You're our leader, our brother..." his voice faltered on the last word.

Raph moved suddenly, taking each of our hands and putting them together. I felt my three brothers squeeze tightly, and was surprised when a tear slid down the side of my face. I wanted to tell them how much I would miss them, so I tried. Every last bit of strength I had I forced into my words, I didn't want to go without them knowing how important they were to me. It was excruciating, but I started, "I…"

"Shhh," Raph looked at me, relieving me of the burden of forcing my punctured lungs to work. "Peace, brudda." I was touched, but had nothing left. I knew they were simply trying to smooth my passage to the next world, but I was terrified. No, Donnie, Raph, Mikey, I'm not ready! Darkness closed around me, leaving the last sound I heard my brothers crying out in grief.

_The End_


End file.
